UDL Guidelines

This week, our resources focused on the Universal Design for Learning guidelines by CAST. This is the first I have heard of the guidelines, but the more I looked into it, the more I realized how valuable they are to my personal educational journey. I would UDL as a resource to provide support and guide instructors in helpful ways to optimize the learning experience for students, regardless of limitations or learning styles.

Why are UDL Guidelines Important to Me?

Photo by Lacie Slezak on Unsplash

Having never worked with the UDL guidelines it was interesting to reflect on my learning journey so far and compare what could have been different if resources like this were utilized by my past instructors. UDL recognizes that everyone has a unique way of learning, and we all retain information differently. These guidelines are designed to create an accessible and inclusive environment for everyone- something that can be adapted to and altered on a case by case basis. Looking back on my education thus far, the UDL guidelines could have helped me thrive in learning new things because of ADHD. I have attached this link here to learn more about ADHD in education, but for me it is attention span that impacts my learning the most. UDL would have helped me in instances where my attention span negatively impacted my learning by fostering a supportive environment where I could learn at my own pace. Check out this article for more on how UDL can help students with ADHD. Giving students access the tools/support they need to succeed is a critical part of UDL.

Privacy Online

Photo by Philip Oroni on Unsplash

As we have learnt in previous weeks (check out more here), our digital image is so important in addition to protecting ourselves online. In all honesty, privacy hasn’t really been a huge concern for me until recently. I almost always accept terms and conditions without reading them, as well as not paying attention to where my information is going or being stored. The question is, how many people are just like me? In short, a lot. This blog post from Berkley further explored terms and conditions, highlighting the lack of care most users have. It was even found in a study that 91% of users just press agree without actually reading. In fact, Deloitte did a study where results showed this lack of care. “98% [of users] agreed to give up their first-born child” among other strange agreements, simply because people didn’t bother to actually read the terms and conditions. Check out this short video below to learn more about why this is important.